Media Council of Kenya

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The Kenyan press is being caught in the crossfire as authorities seek to strengthen defenses against terrorists. On December 19, Kenya's president signed into law a security bill that has the power to stop the press covering terror attacks. The government has also recently criticized the media over allegations that special units are carrying out extra-judicial killings, and a local journalist who reports on security issues has gone into hiding after receiving threats.

Should journalists expect support and
protection from security agents when they risk their lives to report on
security operations? What if their coverage could potentially expose military
strategies? Why are journalists disparaged as unpatriotic when they show how
security operations fail?

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Rumor had it that thieves and police had exchanged gunfire during
the robbery of a bank at the Westgate Mall. That was the word that first
reached some Nairobi newsrooms that Saturday about the gunshots many Kenyans heard
coming from the luxurious shopping mall.

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The working environment for journalists and
media workers in Kenya is increasingly hostile, with at least 91 percent of
journalists at local media outlets having faced security threats in the course
of their work, a new study has revealed. The harassment of and attacks against journalists,
with nearly 40 percent coming from politicians, indicates a need for urgent
attention from both state and non-state actors if press freedom is to be
guaranteed in the country.

Kenya has passed peacefully through its
election period, but questions still hang over the legitimacy of presidential
candidate Uhuru Kenyatta's victory--as well as over the future of the country's
media coverage. During polling, challenges arose for both local and
international media, and they have not subsided. For the foreign press, it is
now unclear how to get accreditation to report in the country. Local journalists
are worried about the rise of self-censorship, and freedom of expression
advocates are concerned by plans for vague regulations on hate speech.

Election-related violence is a worry for
journalists in many countries, but perhaps nowhere more so than Kenya, where presidential
polls will be held March 4. In the aftermath of the nation's last presidential
elections in 2007, over one thousand people were killed in ethnic and political
violence, live news broadcasts were banned, and the press faced a torrent of
threats, leading to widespread self-censorship. Already, in recent weeks, some journalists
have been harassed and their equipment confiscated, while media houses have
been threatened in relation to coverage.